Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Fifty Seven

"There's a million ways this could go wrong!"

Piper fretted, pacing back and forth and pulling at her hair. She couldn't believe that Esmerelda had finally lost the plot.

"Shush! You'll wake everyone up!" Esme whispered as she pulled on her trainers. It was the early hours of the morning, and a delicate silence coated the Ravenclaw girl's dormitory. Piper was in the doorway of Esme's room, repeating over and over again about what a terrible idea it was.

"You know there's monsters in the forest! Why the forest? Of all places!" Piper complained.
Esme, now tying up her laces, replied, "You don't have to worry about it. You're not coming."

"Just tell me... In that big, clever brain of yours, did you not realise what a dangerous place the Forbidden forest is? Not to mention, you're about to really get on the bad side of some Death Eaters." The older girl hissed, moving into the room and nevertheless kneeling down to tie up Esme's other shoe.

"It has to be in the forest. We need cover so we can hide and see who follows us." She explained with a roll of the eyes.
Piper shook her head and stood back up again, "I don't like this one bit."
"Go back to bed, then. Better than lying awake worrying about what we're doing." Esme insisted.

"Esme-"
Esme clapped her hand over Piper's mouth as one of the girls asleep in the beds stirred - rolling over and sniffling slightly.

She slowly lowered her hand and turned to Piper, "Trust me, okay?"
"Don't make me regret it."

A few moments later, Esme was tugging her tattered jacket over her shoulders as she descended the stairs from the Ravenclaw common room in the pitch black.
All she had to do was find Regulus in the dark, escape the castle without running into any teachers, and navigate their way through the Forbidden Forest at night. Easy.

"Esme!" A voice hissed from the shadows as she reached the bottom of the spiral staircase.

She froze, pausing a moment before softly calling out, "Reg?"
"Thank Merlin... I was scared you were Filch." Regulus stepped into the dim light with a sheepish smile on his face.

"You thought I was Filch? Do I look like Filch?" Esme accused him, raising an eyebrow as she tried to hide her smirk.
He sighed, knowing full well she wouldn't let this go, "Of course not. I couldn't see your face, could I?"

"Are you saying the outline of my body is the same as Filch's?" She let out a slight laugh now.
"You're never letting this go, are you?"
"Absolutely not. We will address this later." Esme warned playfully, "But we need to get a move on before a teacher comes."

"I'd just like to remind you how insane this is." Regulus whispered into her ear as they exited the castle and began to make their way across the grounds.
Esme tutted, "I'm starting to think insane is the new normal."

Looking up at the sky, it was alive with dancing stars that flickered against the dark backdrop of the night. A cold, misty blanket had dropped over the Hogwart's grounds as the first signs of dew were condensing on the grass. And there, glowing brilliantly in the middle of the sky, was the full moon.
Instinctively, Esme reached out to grip onto Regulus' hand as they neared the Forbidden Forest. Neither of them had ever actually been in before, and Esme was finally understanding why everyone had stressed this was such a bad idea.

A sudden wind rushed past them, ruffling the dark leaves of the trees and sending a chilling shiver down Regulus' spine.
"Did you not bring a jacket?" Esme asked, finally taking note of how freezing the boy was.
He shook his head, "I was a little distracted by the fact that we might die."

"Here, take it." Esme shrugged her coat off her shoulders and handed it to him, "Just promise not to get it dirty."
Regulus, begrudgingly, pulled it on and drew his wand, "I'm glad your priorities lie with your jacket."